Fighting Fall Frights

The fall months are in full swing — October is finally here and it brings the year’s most notorious holiday.

In a few short weeks, ghosts, goblins and creatures of all shapes and sizes will haunt the streets in search of parties, pranks, scares and sweets.

Even so, building service contractors (BSCs), facility managers and JanSan workers don’t need a holiday or looming shadows to find frightening sights.

There are things that go bump in the night — and even during the day ­­­— in every public building.

Contaminated surfaces, filthy floors and stained carpets are just a few of threats cleaners and maintenance workers regularly battle.

In restrooms, cleaning professionals protect the public from a malevolent murderer’s row of microscopic monsters that lurk in stalls and on surfaces.

Calling upon modern technology and up-to-date training, workers strive every day to kill harmful bathroom bacteria and viruses and to prevent dangerous cross contamination.

Techniques And Tools

In this issue’s Restroom Care Spotlight, our feature articles address a number of potential cleaning challenges.

While everyone knows that unhealthy “nasties” can thrive on floors, fixtures and toilet seats, other restroom problem areas may surprise you.

In one feature, we discuss danger that can be found in the last place a restroom user or cleaner would ever suspect: the soap dispenser.

Another feature highlights the specific problem bacteria that thrive in dirty restrooms and discusses the proper methods to guarantee worker safety, disinfection and cross contamination prevention.

Other important restroom topics covered in this issue include:

Tile and grout cleaning

Proper hand drying options

Effective disinfection practices

Restrooms and the bidding process.

Attend And Learn

Looking past the shadows of October, we are now one month away from ISSA/Interclean North America 2013.

This national gathering of the cleaning industry provides BSCs and facility managers a number of valuable educational offerings as well as the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with the market’s newest technology.

Education and innovation are two themes that Cleaning & Maintenance Management touches on frequently, and the ISSA convention is one of the best opportunities for BSCs and facility managers to learn and network.

In this issue, we are excited to give our readers a sneak peak of the show a full month in advance.

Turn to page 30 for the Worth Seeing At ISSA/Interclean Product Showcase.

There you will find the newest cleaning technology that show attendees will be talking about in Las Vegas.

Cleaning & Maintenance Management will be in attendance, and I welcome you to stop by our booth with questions and feedback.

I hope to see you there.

Phillip Lawless is Editor of Cleaning & Maintenance Management magazine; he can be reached at PLawless@GrandViewMedia.com. A graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Lawless has over 13 years of professional writing and editing experience.